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Holocaust survivors halt talks with LDS
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"Also, as memebers of the church we should try to understand the other's point of view. Many people on this message board have clearly missed the key point that Jewish people are very concerned about the legacy of these victims, the do not want anything to potentially confuse future generations of the details of this atrocity. As a memeber of the church, I truley respect that."
It is a good point but it is wrong to believe that history would somehow confuse the Jewish victims of the Holocaust with Mormons. It would take a lot of research to tie the names of the names on the list of ordinances to the victims of the Holocaust and I doubt that future generations would be intelligent enough to take temple ordinances which don't mention the holocaust as the cause of death to a list of the victims of the Holocaust without knowing that they were Jews.
As someone who has done historical research for my degree I can assure them that we aren't that stupid even if our field is continually insulted. Of course if our civilizations ended and another took its place it might be possible.
Can he show any legitimation by the people he is trying to deprive of baptism?
He is just a namedropper, using some fashionable words like "holocaust victim" and "Mormons" to distinguish himself at cost of the victims, most of them he doesn�t even know, not to speak of what they would declare if they could speak.
"LDS, need to honor their wishes and refrain from doing anything that they perceive diminishes their religion. We must take them for their word that baptizing their ancestors hurts them."
And they should take our word that we are doing everything we can to prevent any inappropriate ordinances from being done. It's clear they are expecting to much from the Church.
We won't halt all temple work simply to prevent a few thousand names from being submitted repeatedly.
Also, they have not shown any respect to the Church who has also endured persecution. They demand that we respect their wishes and in doing so chose to disrespect the religious beliefs of Mormons who have also endured persecution.
"To the direct descendants of those who are Jewish who have joined LDS. You are the ones that need to work this out. You are the only ones with your unique birthright who can make a legitimate argument for doing the work your direct ancestors."
These are those who are being disrespected by this Jewish organization. I have no hard feelings for any Jew but it's clear this organization is intent on persecuting the Church and using Jewish victimhood.
That having been said, I see no reason why a Jewish organization should have the right to dictate what a member of the Church should be able to do with the names of his or her own ancestors.
The Church actually performed tens if not hundreds of thousands of those proxy baptisms already!
Taking the names out of the database means nothing since those baptism were already performed!
It is NOT unreasonable for the Jewish community to expect that those baptisms that have already been performed by REVERSED! That is the whole point! But the Church won't reverse those baptisms. How can they? Simple. Remove the records of the baptisms so that it is as if they did not happen.
The fact that the Church won't do that is what causes the problem. "Well-meaning" members (read "arrogant, self-absorbed, religiocentric zealots") continue to put names in because they know the work will get done before the names are identified and removed. Then it is too late and the "agreement" the Church had with the Jewish community effectively means nothing!
That is exactly why negotiations and talks have ended. The Jewish community has every reason not to trust the LDS Church leaders.
People were killed in the Holocaust because of race, not faith. The majority of Jews killed in the Holocaust were not practicing Jews. It was about race, not religion.
To not publish the names answers any grip Mr. Michel has voiced.
Your desire to force us to change ordinances that we have done strikes of trying to force another religion to conform to your standards.
I have to say that my general impression of Jewish geneological associations is that they keep demanding everything from the church, more hours for family history centers in New York City, and on and on and on, but it is always them demanding from us and unless we change our rules and ordinances to fit them they will not be satisfied.
The Holocaust was based on your ancestors' race, not their religion. Stop confusing this important fact. Once you admit that Christian Jews were killed in the concentration camps and approach the issue as such you will understand better. Your grandfather did not choose to be a Jew, he was born a Jew.
I can certainly speak for them more that a person who cant even spell "holocaust" correctly, but wants to
save their souls.
I think if the Jewish community is that upset with the LDS Church, they should consider BOYCOTTING the Church's FREE genealogical library instead of being freeloaders. In fact, maybe they ought to join the gays and gay supporters and boycott the entire city and state!
Your cousin does have the right to do the work for his ancestors. He did it out of love, but he also has the right. I just found out that I'm a quarter Jewish. I was shocked, but thrilled. Now I can legitimately do work for my ancestors. Maybe you should talk to your cousin about your feelings and ask him why he chose to do your grandfather's work even though he probably knew it would upset you. It will take me years to do this work. I don't even know one word of Polish, but I feel in my heart that this is the greatest gift I can give. Please try to understand those who disagree with you and try to forgive them for doing something that offends you. I might not find anyone of my relatives who were murdered by the vile Nazis, but if I do, I cry with joy and give them a choice in the next life. A CHOICE!
My dad and grandfather chose Judaism as their religon. They weren't forced into it. That story isn't made up. The number tattooed into my fathers arm is proof of it. So you know since you're obviously such an expert on it, my father and grandfather were offered an out. They were told that if they renounced their faith and converted to Christianity then they would be left alone. They decided to be brave and stand up for what they believed in much like your Joseph Smith. Yes christian people of Jewish descent were put into the prison camps too. The first ones tracked down were those of the Jewish faith. My grandfather was Jewish only by faith and faith alone. He was not a jew by heritage. Thanks for showing so much tact though. And mormons wonder why they're hated...
And finally, four possibilities.
A. The Jews are the true faith and anything done vicariously has no effect, so no biggie.
B. The LDS are right so this helps the holocaust victims, so good thing.
C. They are both right, or some combination of correct, so no biggie on the souls of these victims.
D. They are both wrong, so why the big fuss?
Both faiths have claims on the dead, and I do not get the Jewish angst. But I am LDS. Sorry, folks, it's part of our doctrine. ALL people, living and dead, have a right to choose to accept baptism or not.
No one is compelled by force.
-Jerry Aulenbach
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day has good relations with the Jewish community as a whole. I hope that mutual respect and love will be the rule in the future. It is only a small group of Jews that have complained about the LDS practice of Baptisms for the Dead.
I will support The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in whatever its decision is regarding this matter. The 1995 agreement was fair and just then, it should be now.
Mr. Michel is trying to force the church to do a procedure that does not even exist.
But they are the ones posting on a blog about the Mormon Church.
It strikes me that they have left the Church and really miss it. Otherwise, why keep coming on to a forum where you know there will be Mormons, demanding that they "leave you alone?"
I am sure that if this happened to us in the same way, we would act the same way as the did.
The issue is social related, not religious.
Best regards from Brazil.
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"One of the core tenets of Mormon faith is that the dead can be baptized INTO THE FAITH after their passing. Baptism of the dead evolved from the beliefs that baptism is necessary for salvation and that the family unit can continue to exist together beyond mortal life if all members are baptized.
Mormons trace their family trees to find the names of ancestors who died without learning about the restored Mormon Gospel so that these relatives from past generations can be baptized by proxy in the temple. For Latter-day Saints, genealogy is a way to SAVE MORE SOULS and strengthen the eternal family unit."
So it IS about making more "Mormons", not caring about Jews who died in the holocaust at all-- if they use a blanket approach, they can make sure their own butts are covered. It's not like lighting a candle to respect someone else's suffering, it's like starting a wildfire because you wanted the insurance money on your house.
What a bunch of selfish jerks.